SINGAPORE -- U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates warned North Korea on Saturday that the United States would respond quickly if moves by the communist government threaten America or its Asian allies.

"We will not stand idly by as North Korea builds the capability to wreak destruction on any target in the region -- or on us," Gates told an annual international meeting of defense and security officials from Asia and the Pacific Rim.

Gates called North Korea's nuclear program a "harbinger of a dark future" but said he does not consider it a direct military threat to the United States "at this point."

He also compared North Korea's nuclear program to Iran's, but noted that North Korea's program is farther along. Gates called for "genuinely tough sanctions" against both countries "that bring home real pain for their failure to adhere to international norms."

Gates offered no specifics on how the U.S. might respond to North Korea, militarily or otherwise, and has said there are no current plans to deploy more U.S. forces to the region. At the conference, concern over the nuclear threat served to unify the region's sometimes diplomatic adversaries.

Chinese Lt. Gen. Ma Xiaotian said Beijing is "resolutely opposed to nuclear proliferation" and called for nations to "remain cool-headed and take measure to address the problem." South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang Hee called the tests "a serious challenge to the nuclear nonproliferation treaty and has made a solution of the North Korean nuclear problem more difficult."

Gates' speech delivered his harshest words to date to North Korea since Pyongyang detonated an underground nuclear device Monday, followed by several short-range missile launches over the last few days.

Oh really? The North Korean people are already eating grass and dirt - except for the military plus Kim and his homies. What could we possibly do to Kim? Barring some high altitude EMP, zip, zilch, nada.

But have no fear! Super Barack is here!!!

16
posted on 05/29/2009 11:22:26 PM PDT
by NoPrisoners
("When in the course of human events...")

“North Korea knows 0bama is a paper tiger and they will follow through up to and including a war that will devastate the Korean Peninsula to get what they want.”

They will get just that. First off, Obama is a creature of the polls. An actual by-God nuclear strike by NOKO will create a clamor to slap them down in the United States. Although it has now been forgotten, after 9-11 there were lots of Dems good with turning Afghanistan into a vast glass-bottomed plain. (So long as we didn't send — you know — ground troops.) So Obama will have to make a military response. Or lose the next election. (Can't have that.)

If he is smart, he will let the US military do its thing, and we will see something very similar to what happened in Afghanistan in 2001-2002. Then the invincible Taliban, aided by that equally invincible general, Brutal Afghan Winter, got their heads handed them by Special Forces and American airpower. Same thing will happen here. Mr. Smart Bomb meet Mr. NOKO Armor, and Mr. NOKO Command Bunker, and Mr. NOKO Nuclear Facility and Mr. NOKO . . . Any NOKO offensive will grind to a halt almost immediately. And then their army will starve, because they have no food reserves. And the NOKO nukes will prove to be ineffective and NOKO long dongs impotent (the missiles — get your mind out of the gutter) and anyone else possessing nukes or trying to get nukes will think twice, because the US will have proved that nukes don't make you invincible — even if your opponent doesn't respond with nukes.

Or if Obama plays it the way I think he will (stupid) he plasters NOKO with our nukes — turning the northern half of the peninsula into something that glows in the dark. Same result for NOKO, albeit a lot of fallout (literally and politically for the US).

Or Obama may do a “hommina-hommina” act, and the the NOKO army rolls into the South, gets stop-punched by the South Korean army, starves (as above), and the South Koreans then roll into the north, get greeted as liberators, and sign some kind of deal with the PRC to keep the whole country. (After all, why should South Korea ally with an impotent Obama-led US, when they can get China's protection?)

Any way it is played an actual war brings NOKO disaster. No, their game is to see how much lunch money they can bully short of starting fists swinging. Just like bullies back in elementary school.

31
posted on 05/30/2009 5:22:06 AM PDT
by No Truce With Kings
(The opinions expressed are mine! Mine! MINE! All Mine!)

I am having far to many doubts about Gates... I think hes been Obamatized.

Of course he has been Obamatized; he had to be when he agreed to serve in this administration- it is called "serving at the pleasure of the President" even if he stayed on out of duty to this country as opposed to wanting to serve under Obama- he has to at least talk the Obama talk; whether he actually agrees or not.

33
posted on 05/30/2009 7:49:52 PM PDT
by Tammy8
(Please Support & pray for our Troops; they serve us every day. Veterans are heroes not terrorists!)

“he has to at least talk the Obama talk; whether he actually agrees or not.”

I don’t care to get to far down into the weeds on this, but my personal work ethic would not allow me to do that.

Fortunately, I have been retired for 7 years. However, I refused to work for any boss that would not consider my expertise on a matter of importance, particularly, if failing to take my guidance could likely ruin my professional reputation, cause me to get successfully sued, violate the law or put innocent people in jeopardy.

So, as you may see, if I didn’t agree with a boss, he was the first to know, and if the issue fit into any of the above mentioned categories and could not be resolved, either he was gone or I was. This kind of posture does not work for everyone but it did for me.

I sure couldn’t do the job Gates has taken on and I believe he truly loves his country. However, I find myself questioning his thinking a bit more with each passing week. I would hate to see him leave on and down, but I do believe that if he follows Obama’s approached to dealing with our security, he most certainly will.

Had I been Gates, on day one I would have told Obama that I would stay long enough for him to get a replacement, and then I would be out from under that filthy lunatic.

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